Bad Credit Loans - Fixing credit score

Fixing Your Credit Score Doesn't Have To Cost
You
by Ed Vegliante

Credit repair advertisements claim to guarantee a quick fix on
your credit report. They promise for a fee (not always
disclosed at first) to clean up your credit history so that you
can qualify for a new home, car, insurance, a job, or premium
credit cards. Before you sign up with one of these companies,
you need to know some facts.

The real facts on fixing your credit score

The real truth is that no one can legally remove information on
a credit report. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) allows
you, the consumer, to request an investigation of information
in your file that you dispute as inaccurate or incomplete.
There is no charge to you. There are other steps that you can
do yourself, without paying a credit repair company, such as:

* You are allowed a free credit report if a company denies you
credit, insurance, or employment (if this is a part of your
employment application) provided you request a report within 60
days of this denial. The notice will give you the name of the
consumer reporting agency that provided this report. You can
dispute information that this denial is based upon. Under FCRA,
both the consumer reporting agency and the information provider
are responsible for correcting inaccurate or any incomplete
information in that report.

* Put in writing what information you believe to be inaccurate.
Include copies of any documentation that supports your claim. Be
sure to send this letter to the credit reporting agency, and
send it certified mail so that you can prove it was mailed and
signed for at their end.

* You will get a response within 30 days. During their
investigation, they must forward all your documents to the
merchant or vendor that provided the negative credit
information and report back to the credit agency. If they find
that the information is inaccurate, they must notify all three
reporting agencies of their findings: Equifax, Experian and
TransUnion.

* When the investigation is concluded, you must receive a copy
of the results in writing and a copy of the dispute if it is
changed. It the disputed item is changed, the credit reporting
agency cannot put the disputed information back into your file
unless it is verified as accurate by the merchant or vendor.

* The credit reporting agency must send notices of a correction
to anyone who received your credit report in the past six
months. You can also have a corrected copy sent to employers
that did not hire you based on your credit report.

Removing a bad credit rating

When you have a bad credit rating based on negative information
that is accurate, you can only wait for it to be removed over
time. By law, a credit reporting agency can only report
negative information for seven years and bankruptcy for ten
years. For unpaid judgments, the reporting period goes back
seven years or until the statute of limitations runs out.
Criminal convictions and applications for over $150,000 of life
insurance have no time limits. By starting to pay your bills on
time and contacting the creditors that you cannot pay, you can
start to change your credit profile to the positive side, but
that will take time also.

If you do decide to use a credit repair company

Start by getting a free copy of your credit report. Then
assemble all your credit card bills and write them down. This
will give both you and your credit repair company a starting
point. By law, credit repair companies must give you a
brochure, "Consumer Credit File Rights Under State and Federal
Law" when you sign a contract for their services. This contract
must clearly specify your rights, obligations and fees. The
contract must also clearly detail the descriptions of the
services they will perform for you, how long it will take to
see the results, and any guarantees they offer you. Members of
the National Foundation for Credit Counseling are non-profit
organizations providing free and low cost services to consumers
with a wide range of plans, covering most types of credit used,
including home mortgages.

Credit repair companies can help if you're drowning in debt.
Before you sign a contract, check out these low cost and free
options you can do yourself.

Copyright 2005 Ed Vegliante.
Ed Vegliante is the owner of
http://www.credit-card-surplus.com , a well organized credit
card directory enabling the user to compare and apply for a
variety of credit credit card offers. Find links to secure
online credit card applications.